Major League Baseball
Michaels’ grand slam keys Pirates comeback win over Cardinals ST. LOUIS (AP) – Jason Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 Monday night.
Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from starter Adam Wainwright. The two-out blast landed in the Pirates’ bullpen and was just the second hit of the inning. It was his first homer with the Pirates and his first since hitting one against Texas on Aug. 1, 2007, while with Cleveland.
Wainwright (5-3) allowed just one single to Jack Wilson through five innings and faced the minimum after getting Freddy Sanchez to ground into a double play. Signs of fatigue started showing in the sixth during which the Pirates got two two-out singles, but Wainwright escaped without allowing a run.
He then gave up a double to Bay and walked two to bring up Michaels in the seventh.
In the eighth, Nate McLouth singled to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Wilson. Bay broke the tie one out later with a single to right field.
Wainwright gave up seven hits and five earned runs in eight innings.
Franquelis Osoria (3-1) allowed two hits in 1 2-3 innings to earn the victory. Matt Capps pitched the ninth to remain perfect in 11 save opportunities.
Tom Gorzelanny struggled at the start the game, giving up two runs on three hits in the first and third innings, using 62 pitches – including 30 in the third. From there, he allowed a bloop single from Wainwright before being pulled to start the seventh.
Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick both drove in two runs, each with RBIS in the first and third. Pujols finished 2-for-4 in the game and is now 10-for-21 in the past seven games.
NOTES: Michaels’ pitch-hit slam was the first for Pittsburgh since Craig Wilson hit one against Milwaukee in 2003. … Xavier Nady, who was 6-for-13 coming in against Wainwright, went 0-for-3 with a walk ending his eight-game hit streak. … McLouth received a prolonged ovation from the crowd after making a dazzling catch to take away a possible triple from Aaron Miles in the first.
Phillies 5, Reds 4
PHILADELPHIA – Ken Griffey Jr. remained one shy of 600 home runs after getting the night off, but Philadelphia’s Chase Utley hit his major league-leading 21st homer to help the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds.
Utley went deep for the fifth straight game, tying a club record he shares with Dick Allen, Mike Schmidt and Bobby Abreu. Utley also homered in five consecutive games earlier this season.
Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste also connected for the NL East-leading Phillies. Rookie sensation Jay Bruce and Edwin Encarnacion went deep for the Reds.
Bruce had two hits in his first three at-bats, making him 15-for-25 overall. The last player to have at least 15 hits in his first 25 major league at-bats was Chris C. Jones of the Reds in 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Bruce finished 2-for-4.
Kyle Kendrick (5-2) gave up four runs and five hits in 5 1-3 innings for the win.
Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (4-5) allowed five runs and 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings.
Braves 7, Marlins 5
ATLANTA – John Smoltz blew a save in his return to the mound as a closer, but Yunel Escobar picked him up with the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot in the 10th inning to lift the Braves over Florida.
Pitching in relief for the first time since 2004, Smoltz came on in the ninth with a 4-3 lead. The Marlins were down to their last out when Jeremy Hermida drove in two runs with a single.
But Jeff Francoeur hustled home on a wild pitch in the bottom half to get Smoltz off the hook, and Escobar won it in the 10th with a drive that bounced off the top of the wall in right center and into the seats.
In the 10th, Logan Kensing (3-1) walked Kelly Johnson, then surrendered Escobar’s fifth homer of the season.
Will Ohman (2-0) earned the win with a scoreless top half of the 10th.
Brewers 4, D’backs 3
MILWAUKEE – Prince Fielder homered to leadoff the eighth and helped scratch across another run with an unlikely steal of third to lift the Brewers over the Diamondbacks.
Fielder, who went 3-for-4, drove a fastball by Arizona reliever Doug Slaten (0-2) deep to left-center field where it bounced off a stadium support just below a “Vote Brewers” All-Star banner to give Milwaukee its first lead, 4-3.
It was Fielder’s third homer in the last four games and ninth this year. The Brewers have won fourth in a row.
Orioles 6, Red Sox 3
BALTIMORE – Adam Jones broke a tie with a three-run double in the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles overcame another home run by Manny Ramirez to beat the Boston Red Sox, avoiding a four-game sweep.
Baltimore blew a 2-0 lead, then rallied with a four-run eighth against Hideki Okajima (1-1). After a sacrifice fly by Kevin Millar tied it, the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs for Jones, lined a shot off the left-field wall.
Ramirez homered in a third consecutive game to reach 502 for his career, two behind Eddie Murray for 23rd place in baseball history. The last time Ramirez homered in three straight games was May 22-24, 2006.
He also hit a single off Jim Johnson (1-2) to put the go-ahead run in scoring position in the eighth for Mike Lowell, who delivered an RBI single for a 3-2 lead.
Twins 6, Yankees 5
MINNEAPOLIS – Delmon Young had three doubles and three RBIs and Joe Mauer hit his long-awaited first homer of the season to lead Minnesota past New York Yankees.
Young’s breakout performance at the plate comes after a rough first two months in Minnesota. He entered the game hitting .264 with no homers and just 15 RBIs after coming over in a trade from Tampa Bay.
The 22-year-old had RBI-doubles in the second and sixth innings before giving the Twins the lead for good with another two-bagger off Kyle Farnsworth (0-2) that scored Michael Cuddyer in the eighth.
Joe Nathan picked up his 15th save in 16 chances and Matt Guerrier (3-1) pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief for the win.
Alex Rodriguez homered and drove in two runs.
Copyright Associated Press 2008